Letter: Plastic is Almost the Root of All Evils

Kerry Sink, San Clemente

Since the advent of plastics manufacturing sometime in the 1950s, we can say this business has exploded exponentially.

The bright side is that so many jobs have been created and science and engineering have expanded beyond expectations. The downside today is that plastic is almost the root of all evils.

Oil consumption has been largely blamed on transportation. But the plastic industry is never held accountable because it has become a necessity. As a fisherman, I would never get mad at my Plano Tackle box from Plano, Texas.

I was at a fast-food restaurant the other day and they offered me many side dishes in these plastic cups with plastic lids.

The younger generation doesn’t even know the difference because it is so commonplace; people don’t realize that some plastic is just being dumped into the ocean a hundred miles offshore. Here in San Clemente, people still throw trash out of their cars, cigarette butts all over the place and just ignorant things like that.

I get into small arguments with my wife about sorting the trash. She will put a plastic Oxy-Clean container in the normal garbage. I called CR&R and they said they do sort the trash, but it comes at an extra expense to the company. That means our trash bill keeps going up, for one. And another is that the people who dig recyclables out of our bins are taking away from the trash company getting a little bit of revenue back.

Maybe I am the garbage cop at my house, but I see it everywhere and if a few of us make a difference, we might make a difference.

I am willing to pay for my paper to-go boxes at 30 cents per meal or whatever. That’s why local restaurants can’t do it for free and opt for Styrofoam. With high rent and everything, they have no choice if they want to stay in business.

This all starts with parents. Use wax paper and reduce the snack baggies. Wash your kids’ backpacks and teach them to do it too.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.